Author: stephanierivas12

It feels like it was yesterday when Michael popped the big question! It’s something I’ll never forget and one of the BEST days of my life (next to the wedding of course!) It’s seriously an indescribable feeling. I literally felt like I was on cloud nine. It felt like a moment out of a movie, where everything else around me was moving in slow motion and I all could see was Mike getting down on one knee. My heart was filled with so much joy that I could hardly contain myself!

Mike and I always talked about marriage, but with me moving away to Oklahoma to start my journey as a news reporter….I thought it would take a little longer. Shortly after the engagement came the “Oh no what about my job” moment. I put a deposit down on an apartment in Oklahoma and I was moving in exactly one month! I was crushed. I felt like I had everything I’d ever wanted, but now I had to choose between my career and my man. I didn’t want to give up my career AT all, but I know I wanted to be my man’s side as we planned our life together too. We agreed that I was still going to move to Oklahoma and start my career and we’d work it out like we always did, but that didn’t settle well with me. I had nightmares about missing my wedding, us breaking up, something terrible happening to me while I was away in a town that I knew NOTHING about. Then the big decision came….us moving in together.

Everything happened so fast that we didn’t really have time to process ANYTHING. I cancelled the deposit for my apartment in Oklahoma, and we decided to move to Sanger, Tx. It was the middle point for both of our jobs. I would drive an hour to Oklahoma, and he would drive an hour to Addison EVERYDAY for nearly a year. We were in our apartment for about a month, but for some reason it just didn’t feel right. We were living together BEFORE marriage. How could we ask for God’s blessing in our marriage based off of lust and sin? So…….We decided to do it God’s way and get married. February 15th, 2013 was the day I OFFICIALLY became Mrs. Luster.

My father-in-law married us in the living room of my parent’s house. Only our immediate family members were in attendance. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Not only because I became Mrs. Luster, but to have my father-in-law officially marry us, is just AMAZING. We decided not to tell anyone because I still wanted my wedding day to be special, and well simply because it was OUR decision. I also did NOT want to hear “Girl why didn’t you guys just wait until your wedding day to get married?”

It was the BEST decision ever! To know that we did it the right way, and that we’re still doing things the right way is just an awesome feeling. It feels amazing to be married with the blessing of Christ. I feel like our marriage is fireproof at this point. If we ALWAYS remember to keep Christ first, we’ll be just fine! It’s something I wish for every woman. Get to know Christ and let HIM choose the man for you! ❤

It is so important for a husband and wife to travel as much as they can. It’s a time for the both of you to relax, get away, and most importantly spend time with JUST each other. Mike and I spent the weekend in Florida and It couldn’t have been more amazing. I felt like a teen in love all over again. We spent time at the beach walking, laughing, and really just enjoying each other’s company. There was several people around us, but it felt like it was just the two of us.

I can’t express enough how amazing it feels to be married to a man of God. One that protects me, nurtures me, loves me, and most importantly a man that makes me want to become a better wife! I can’t tell you how many times Mike and I get asked, “when are the babies coming?” Trust me…baby fever is in FULL effect, but right now we really just want to enjoy being married and taking as many trips as we can. Yes, we talk about children ALL the time, but we both agreed that we have plenty of time to have children. It’s important to take care of your marriage first. As a young girl I always heard older women say “When you get married, enjoy being married first before you decide to have children,” and that’s exactly what I plan to do.

Mike and I recently visited a church in Plano and the pastor spoke on single life. He started out by saying “single life is the preferred life.” When this man said this I was so confused. I was thinking to myself “you mean being single is better than being married?” I was ready to just walk out of the church at this point, but as he kept on , it made complete sense! When you’re single, you have more time to devote yourself to the Lord and “HIS” plan, not “YOUR” plan. He compared single life to Jesus’ life. When Jesus came and left this earth, he was single. So for singles to think they have bad because they don’t have anyone to cuddle with at night, well they’re saying Jesus was a lame too! Then he broke down single life (the way women view it ) into two categories.

The woman that has the OVER desire to get married:

You have some woman that ALL they think about is getting married. They have their wedding dress already picked out, they know what kind of flowers they want, what dress they’ll be wearing, even down to the exact ring they want (I was guilty of this too). They pray to God for their prince charming and they think that every man that walks into their life is “the one,” only to get disappointed and find out he was far from it.

The woman that has the UNDER desire to get married:

Then you have some women that swear they’ll never get married and that their done with men because they’ve been hurt way too man times. They’re bitter towards love and hate seeing happy couples. They think all men are dogs, liars, and cheaters. They put up this tough persona because they don’t want to get hurt again.

Marriage and single life should both be held high. Marriage is a beautiful thing when done right and when done under “God’s” timing, NOT yours. Singles should be worried about praising the Lord instead of trying to find that perfect relationship just so they can fit in with what “society” makes us think about relationships. Too many people are focused on social media, and NOT on God. Too many girls are tying to find their “boo” to post pictures with on instagram and Facebook! When someone asks you why you’re still single and why you haven’t gotten married yet, that’s just the Devil trying to bring you down and block you from your blessings! Of course people want to be married, and God blesses that, but truly focus on him and the ultimate marriage, which is when you see christ.

SOOOOOOO, to my singles, if you make your over desire to God, you will do that when you’re married. You should want to be with somebody who’s hard working for God! A man that will lead the way a man is supposed to lead! Which means you have to be hard working for him as well. Ladies, you can’t be asking for a Godly man, if you’re not a Godly woman. This goes to the fellas as well, look for a Godly woman! Don’t look for a woman that’s more concerned with “partying” all the time.

A Virtuous Woman is a basically a triple threat. She’s an excellent wife, provider, responsible, humble, and most importantly, a woman of God. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to be the best wife that I can be to my husband. I’ve been reading the bible more and learning how to be the wife God intended me to be. One that is supportive to her husband, quick to listen, and slow to anger. I’ll admit, it must be the Latina in me because this is a hard one for me, but what I love most about my husband is his patience with me and how he makes me want to be a better wife!

Proverbs 31:10-31 describes a Godly wife, a virtuous woman. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong of her tasks. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks NOTHING of value. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. My favorite quote of all “She is more precious than jewels, and NOTHING you desire can compare with her.”

This is how ALL women should strive to be not just married women. Ladies, let’s strive to be a Virtuous woman!

As most of you know I recently married my best friend, Michael Luster, and while it’s been nothing but beautiful so far, I know times will get hard and we’ll have to turn to prayer often! I really wanted to make a blog not only discussing marriage life, but just relationships in general.

As a young woman of God I really wanted to share with other women in my opinion, what it takes to have a healthy relationship under God’s protection. With that being said, in no way am I saying my relationship with my husband is perfect. In fact it’s far from that! In a previous blog I discussed a hard time in our relationship where my husband and I broke up while were dating for a whole year! It was one of the hardest times in life, as everything I knew came to an end. I thank God every day for that lesson because it prepared me for marriage, and how to turn to the Lord when times get tough. He was the one that got me through it. A Relationships causes pain, and without God as the head of your relationship, it will crumble.

With that being said we are now happily married, but I’m still learning daily how to be the best wife I can be. I hope you all enjoy reading and growing with me! 🙂